MOVIE OF THE WEEK #1 (8/19/11): FRIGHT NIGHT
KEY CAST MEMBERS: Anton Yelchin, Colin Farrell, Toni Collette, David Tennant, Imogen Poots, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Emily Montague, Sandra Vergara, Dave Franco and Reid Ewing ... And someone from the original film in a minor cameo role
WRITER: Marti Noxon (screenplay); Tom Holland (original film)
DIRECTOR: Craig Gillespie
WEB SITE: http://www.welcometofrightnight.com/
THE PLOT: A remake of the sleeper 1985 horror hit of the same name, the 2011 version of Fright Night stars Anton Yelchin (Did you see Star Trek in 2009? He played Chekov.) as Charley Brewster. Living in a Las Vegas adjacent suburb with his mom (Toni Collette), Jerry's life is pretty good. He's got a girlfriend, Amy (Imogen Poots), good, popular friends (Dave Franco and Reid Ewing) and a generally good disposition. He even has a new neighbor moving in next door in the form of the suave but subtle Jerry (Colin Farrell).
There is one problem, though ... Charley's best friend Ed (Christopher Mintz-Plass) is not only among the cool kids at school, he also believes Jerry is a vampire. That might explain why Ed spends the majority of his free time tracking Jerry's activities at night and researching everything he can find out about vampires on the Web site of Peter Vincent (David Tennant), a Criss Angel-style illusionist. Now, as one might expect, Charley doesn't believe Ed. After all, who would? But as he gets to know Jerry a little better - and people start disappearing - Charley is forced to confront the grim reality of his situation.
And that reality might just force him to take stopping Jerry's reign of terror into his own hands ...
THE TAKE: There are very few blanket statements one can make about America that everyone will agree with (hence the term "blanket statement"), but the following is one of them: America is obsessed with the 1980s. Despite the failure of the long-forgotten That 80's Show, be it stonewashed jeans, hair metal, old Air Jordans and/or ex-celebrities on reality TV shows, America loves all things that have to do with the years between 1980-1989.
Unfortunately, Hollywood often forgets that some of the things that we loved in the '80s were for how cheesy/goofy/enjoyable not good they were at the time (and in many cases, remain). The original Fright Night, from what I've been able to gather from my Web research (and YouTube clips), the original had a decent mix of good low budget thrills, took itself a bit more seriously as a horror movie and took the time to develop its characters so they were a bit, oh, I don't know, developed.
Well, the 2011 version - despite all the trailers and quotes you may see that would lead you to believe otherwise, might just be cornier than the 80s version, doesn't take itself nearly as seriously as it should and is more memorable for what it gets wrong than what it gets right.
You don't really care about any of the characters as individuals, you don't ever really fear Farrell (who focuses his efforts on being stalkerish more so than seductive as Chris Sarandon did in the original film - and less effectively) and the less said about poor Toni Collette's involvement in this, the better. The best performance in this film? An abbreviated one by Emily Montague in the film's best sequence.
Don't get me wrong - it's not that the film's terrible, it's just the film is lackluster. When you find yourself thinking things like 'This could use a higher body count,' 'That joke was kina corny' and 'Well, that was a good 3D effect" more than you do the movie as a whole, it's not a great sign. Be forewarned, though, while the 3D is better than many of the movies that have been forced upon the public in the format recently, several people I heard complained the film was very dark and found their selves trying to adjust their eyes to the light outside the theater ...
Almost forgot to mention this - the movie is NOT scary ... AT ALL. If you're looking for something that will make the hair on the back of your neck stand up, wait for some other movies later this year. Fright Night has no such moments to offer you.
PARTING SHOT: The 2011 version Fright Night is a forgettable affair that lacks the bite to be scary, wit to be comical and ultimately, charm to be as memorable as its predecessor.
RATING (OUT OF FOUR POSSIBLE BUCKETS OF POPCORN):
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